Background/Purpose: This work aimed to assess the impact of different etiologies
of acute pancreatitis (AP) and vitamin D receptor (VDR) TaqI rs731236 gene polymorphism
on the severity of AP.
Methods: This case-control study included 70 patients with AP and 40 healthy controls.
Etiologies of AP were identified by imaging, ANA, cytomegalovirus (CMV)
IgM, coxsackie B virus IgM, and IgG4. Genotyping of VDR TaqI rs731236 polymorphism,
Laboratory tests and severity scores using Ranson, BISAP, Atlanta and
APACHE II scores were determined.
Results: The age in AP patients was 36.03 ± 10.76, and females were 85.7%. The
etiologies of AP were as follows: biliary (51.4%), coxsackievirus (22.9%), autoimmune
(14.3%), post-ERCP (8.6%) and 2.9% were idiopathic. The TT genotype of
VDR polymorphism was significantly more common in AP than control (P = .001)
and allele T dominated in AP group (OR = 2; 95% CI: 0.665–5.64). Most cases
showed low severity scores with significant differences among etiologies and VDR
genotypes. Biliary pancreatitis showed highest percentages of severe AP. However,
etiologies and VDR polymorphism were not predictors of severity.
Conclusion: Etiology of AP could have impact on the disease severity. VDR gene
polymorphism increases the risk of AP. Neither the etiology nor VDR gene polymorphism
could predict AP severity.